FleetBoston plans to lay off 4,000 as result of merger
BOSTON – FleetBoston Financial disclosed that it plans to fire 4,000 employees, or about 6.7 percent of its combined staffs as a result of the merger of Fleet Financial with BankBoston. Fleet said it would notify most of those to be fired by Sept. 30. The rest would be informed by the end of 2000, the company said. Most of the firings are the result of job overlaps caused by the merger of the two banks, Fleet told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a regulatory filing.
Seekonk firm wins contract for large machine tools
SEEKONK – Phoenix, Inc., a machine tool manufacturer, the only American firm submitting a bid for a contract that attracted six foreign competitors, won the contract to produce huge machine tools for use in making fuel tanks for satellites and dredge pumps. All six of the machines will be used in the United States. The other bidders were from Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea and Romania. The largest of the machines, according to the Attleboro Sun Chronicle, is capable of working on curved or flat metal, with maximum dimensions of 19.7 feet across and 11 feet high, and handling 35 tons maximum weight. The machine itself is 24.7 feet high and 29.2 feet long, weighing 175 tons. The company’s recent expansion through a 50 foot by 100-foot addition, with a 35-ton overhead crane, enabled the company to bid on and build the larger machines.
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Cookson companies bought by Methuen firm
METHUEN – Parlex Corporation, based here, announced it has purchased two Cookson Group plc subsidiaries, Poly-Flex Circuits, Inc. of Cranston, RI, and Poly-Flex Circuits, Ltd. of the United Kingdom. According to the announcement by Parlex, the acquisition broadens the Parlex product line of flexible interconnects by adding polymer thick film circuits and circuit assemblies, and also offers Parlex access to European markets through its U.K. facility. Parlex said the purchase price is $19,650,000.
Raytheon gets radar contracts
LEXINGTON – Raytheon Co. announced it has won two contracts worth $667 to produce radar systems for use by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps and the Australian Air Force. Boeing awarded one of the contracts worth $467 million for installation of radar units on its F/A aircraft through 2004. The Navy awarded a contract for $200 million for upgrading Navy and Marine Corps aviation systems. Work will be done at Raytheon plants in Andover, Mass., El Segundo, Calif., and Forest, Miss.
Fleet to provide initial financing for ballpark
BOSTON – Fleet Sports Finance Group will finance the land purchase for development of a new ballpark in downtown San Diego with a $16.22 million dollar loan, Fleet announced. Construction of the new ballpark was approved by San Diego voters in 1998. Fleet has arranged $425 million in credit for Major League Baseball to enable teams to refinance debt or for other spending.
Irish trade, technology center opens
BURLINGTON – The new Irish Trade and Technology Center here is occupied by 12 Irish companies with a 13th coming soon. The center, with the addition of the latest company is reported to be full. Ireland’s deputy prime minister, Mary Harney hailed the development, noting that 140 Irish companies have expanded to the United States, 40 of them in the Boston area.
State workers bloc renews health care contract
BOSTON – As the state legislature is being urged to move cautiously with health-care reforms, a bloc of state employees and retirees has renewed its health-care contract with the Harvard Pilgrim HMO. The contract covering 55,000 state employees and retirees is worth $129 million, The Boston Globe reported. It is the HMO’s largest contract. The renewal of the contract was cited by The Globe as an example of the loyalty that Harvard Pilgrim has inspired in its customers. It is reportedly the most expensive of the six plans offered to state employees by the Group Insurance Commission which buys insurance for the state. The renewal carried 13.3 percent premium rate increase, compared with an average 15 percent increase the HMO is charging its other customers around the state.
Quincy shipyard companies file for bankruptcy
QUINCY – The two companies involved jointly in an effort to revive the Fore River Shipyard here filed for Chapter 11 protection last week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, even as they insisted they were going to build ships in the yard -eventually. After the federal Maritime Agency sought $47 million in loan payments from the companies, the shipyard owner, Massachusetts Heavy Industries, Inc. and the operator of the yard, MHI Shipbuilding LLC, sought reorganization protection in the U.S. court in Boston. The federal government has taken possession of the yard. Meanwhile, officials at the two MHI companies said they would continue to seek financial backing to regain control of the yard and start building ships. The yard has been closed since 1986. In its heyday during World War II the Fore River yard employed more than 30,000 workers building warships for the Navy.
